Americans want cheap Chinese EVs. Here's who is preventing them

• A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to prevent the sale of Chinese electric vehicles in the U.S.
• Concerns include unfair advantages from China's labor laws and potential national security risks.
• The average price of a new EV in the U.S. was over $55,000 in April 2026, while some Chinese models start under $30,000.

Bipartisan agreement in Washington is hard to find - unless it comes to preventing the sale of cheap Chinese electric cars in the United States.

A coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers from midwestern states that are heavily dependent on domestic carmakers and auto part manufacturers, who see their Chinese competitors having unfair advantages due to their home countries lax labor and motor vehicle safety laws, has emerged to effectively block the entry of Chinese EVs into American showrooms.

That coalition is flexing its muscle now as President Donald Trump is in the midst of a high-profile visit to China.

“China has a strategy to dominate global automotive and battery manufacturing that presents a challenge to American economic and national security," John Bozzella, president and CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which lobbies for most major carmakers, said in a statement. “We need to make sure we’re all playing by the same rules, but Chinese automakers are flooding markets around the world with cut-rate vehicles."

Even the leader of America's biggest EV company, Tesla, has weighed in with its CEO Elon Musk saying on a January 2026 appearance on theMoonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast "it seems like China listens to everything I say and does it."

"Or they're just doing it independently," Musk said on the podcast. "I don't know. They're certainly making massive battery packs. Really massive battery pack outputs. They're making vast numbers of electric cars. Vast amounts of solar. These are things I said we should do."

The comments come as the average price of a new EV in the United States reached $55,211 in April 2026, according to Kelley Blue Book. The average price of a new Tesla EV in April was $53,279.

Who is fighting to stop the entry of Chinese EVs into the US?

Proposals to ban the sale of Chinese EVs in the United States has drawn support from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, auto and part manufacturers and technology groups who are worried about the security of data that is collected by cars made there.

"China’s goal is not to compete in the U.S. automotive market, but instead to hollow it out and ultimately limit consumer choice to Chinese brands," the lawmakers wrote in a May 6 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican who has introduce legislation in the Senate to ban the cars, said in an X post: "China is using automobiles as a weapon to infiltrate America, destroy our manufacturing base, & spy on us. We will hermetically seal the US from Chinese predators once & for all."

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat who is consponsoring the legislation to block Chinese EVs with Moreno, added in an X post of her own "the Chinese Communist Party has a strategy. They steal tech, reverse engineer it, build it at scale, and then they heavily subsidize it so it undercuts the market."

President Trump and members of his Cabinet have also made public their objection to the entry of Chinese EVs into America auto showrooms.

"China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life," Trump said in a Jan. 24 post on Truth Social.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also said during a Thursday, Jan. 22 appearance at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show that he thinks allowing Chinese EVs into the U.S. market would put American automakers at a big disadvantage.

"I think you'll see the world be gouged by China and they'll control all the manufacturing and we can't let that happen," Duffy said. "I want to keep the development and the manufacturing and the American spirit of these vehicles in our country."

Why are Chinese EVs cheaper than the ones that are made in the US?

China's biggest EV maker BYD's cars that are sold in Europe have an average cost of $45,083, according to the company's website. It also has compact electric models that start as low as $28,000.

Critics say BYD and other Chinese manufacturers are able to offer cheaper electric cars than their U.S. counterparts because they do not have to abide by American labor standards for compensation and work conditions. They add that domestic automakers would have to sell their EVs at a loss to compete with BYD on pricing.

But some Americans have signaled an openness to Chinese EVs, even as politicians have railed against them. A Jan. 12 poll conducted by EVs for All America, an advocacy group that works with car manufacturers to push U.S. and state lawmakers to adopt EV-friendly policies, showed 46% of 600 potential EV buyers in the United States said they had a favorable or mixed opinion of Chinese car brands.

Why can't I buy a Chinese EV in the US?

BYD's electric cars are currently not sold in the United States because of factors such as high tariffs that are currently in place and federal rules regarding connected car technology and vehicle safety standards that the company sees as restrictive.

BYD currently sells commercial vehicles in the United States, but the company's U.S.-branch CEO has said in interviews that she thinks the American market is "too restrictive."

In a May 2024 interview with Yahoo Finance, BYD America CEO Stella Li said the American EV market is, "an interesting market but it's very complicated." As consumer interest in EVs has appeared to wane, other factors have further complicated the landscape, Li said.

The Trump administration has imposed a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports, including cars, making it fiscally prohibitive for BYD to sell cars in America.

The Trump administration has opposed BYD's entry in the United States, and leaders have also criticized Canadian officials for striking a trade deal with China.